With the economy going downhill and budget cuts weeding their way into nearly every aspect of academia, students need to see the truth: This won’t change for us. We need to change our perspective and think out a plan B. And plan it well.

We need to roll up our sleeves and face this issue now in order to succeed.

We need to see the honor students as competition and get rid of the slackers.

With 20,000 students at City College breaking enrollment records, class registration, academic counseling and transferring is now like a battle royal competition. We can either fall under the pressure or push through.

Having fewer students transferring will cause a rise in students at city college. This will force students to be more competitive and work harder. The slackers will be filtered out and GPAs will rise and class environments can only benefit.

Having more students stick around City College will increase the amount of money the school will get each semester, but will increase tensions. More over crowding and lack of extra resources such as, tutors, open labs and equipment will result in the suffering of well deserving students.

To improve your chances of getting into college, think outside the box. Trade schools are a more direct route for students who are already pursuing specific careers. Applying to out-of-state and international schools is a way to avoid being hit by California’s hyper-competitive admissions. Private schools are more likely to hand out scholarships and, in the long run, could be less expensive than a UC.

Another possibility for certain students might be to join the military in order to get training and funding for what they really want to focus on. While we are not endorsing the military as an ideal way for all students to get an education, it can be a fit for the right individual.

Maybe junior high and high schools can be more aggressive in informing students to pick specific paths and frame their next step accordingly.

Standing out on your transcripts by being active in clubs, sports and honor societies will only raise your chances to transfer.

Some students are only going to college because they feel like it’s the social norm. Instead, they could go into work places of higher learning that will challenge them to become a pace setter in society. Too many people enroll only because they feel like they have to fulfill the pressures that society places on them, and this robs other students from their accessibility to success.

In these difficult times we must remember Darwin’s law of evolution: only the strong survive.